Dyes and Tans. 



220 



[September, 190S. 



the bark, and as often as not cannot be 

 stripped. The only way to remedy this 

 evil, if the soil is hard, is to break it up 

 previous to sowing. On no account over- 

 crowd the trees ; the object to be aimed 

 at is marketable bark and as much of it 

 as possible. The only way to get this is 

 by having large stemmed and big branch- 

 ed trees. If the trees are crowded they 

 will only grow lanky aud thin, and thin- 

 ning operations will have to be resorted 

 to. If this is not done carefully the 

 remaining trees will, through the weight 

 of their crowns, often bend over and 

 even get torn out of the ground; they 

 are so weak that a gale of wind will 

 level them. From the first, keep them 

 well apart, and the after-results will well 

 repay this precaution, besides saving the 

 cost of thinning. 



Lopping of branches may be restorted 

 to, but no tree under six feet high needs 

 it. It is after this height has been 

 attained that a few branches may be 

 removed ; do not lop right up, rest con- 

 tent to remove a few only at a time. It 

 is advisable not to lop a tree higher 

 than 10 feet ; the branches that grow 

 beyond this are needed and will of 

 themselves produce both quality and 

 quantity of bark. Above all cut close 

 to the stem, do not leave a stub sticking 

 out. It is necessary that the wound 

 should heal quickly, in order to prevent 

 the inroads of borers or fungus disease ; 

 it cannot heal properly as long as the 

 dead bit of branch sticks there. Then, 

 again, when stripping takes place these 

 stubs are a cause of trouble and annoy- 

 ance, preventing the easy removal of the 

 bark. An acre of well-grown wattle 

 trees ought not to number more than 

 150, and, if grown in scrub, probably 

 half this number. It is a great mistake 

 to suppose that more trees will return a 

 better profit. It is more than probable 

 that an acre of 150 trees will produce 

 more bark, and distinctly better quality, 

 than an acre of 500 whipsticks that can 

 only produce thin, inferior bark. 



The greatest enemy to wattle is fire ; 

 at no period of their lives can they be 

 considered safe, should this element 

 attack them. In most cases it kills 

 them, and, if not, so injures them that 

 the bark is useless for stripping; there- 

 fore beware of fire. 



Harvesting the Bark. 



At what age a tree is fit to strip 

 depends on a lot of circumstances ; but 

 it can be taken as a rough guide, that 

 with favourable seasons and growth 6 

 to 8 years will be the youngest age 

 conudcive to a decent bark yield. It is 

 possible to strip at 4 years, but the return 



is a poor one compared to what would 

 result if the tree was left another couple 



of seasons. 



There is a time when the marketable 

 bark reaches its maximum thickness ; 

 this is probably between 8 and 10 years 

 in a normally grown tree, it may be even 

 a little later. After this stage has been 

 reached, the green bark will never get 

 thicker, any increase in thickness will 

 only be due to the accumulation of dead 

 bark that adheres to the stem and 

 covers the live bark, or marketable 

 commodity Now it stands to reason a 

 purchaser is not going to buy dead bark, 

 and to market such rubbish would be 

 folly. Therefore as soon as the bark 

 of a tree shows signs of external creak- 

 ing and dying, no time should be lost 

 in stripping it, for it will never improve, 

 but only recede in value. 



There are many different ways of 

 stripping bark, but whatever method is 

 adopted, the object in view should not 

 be most bark with least trouble and 

 time, but most bark and best sample. If 

 a tree is carefully worked, it is surpris- 

 ing what a lot of good quality material 

 it yields. But the best bark is often ruin- 

 ed by carelessness. Even inferior bark 

 can be made to appear good, with a little 

 care. It should be cut to one length, not 

 doubled over in the bundles, because che 

 bent bark takes up more room, is very 

 prone to spring and loosen the ties, and 

 looks slovenly. After the bark is strip- 

 ped great care must be taken to prevent 

 it getting wet or a great loss of tannin 

 will result. Freshly peeled bark suffers 

 more in this way than dry bark. But 

 when dry bark gets damp, especially 

 when bundled, it is liable to be attacked 

 by mildew. This is often hard to detect 

 till perhaps great injury is caused; mil- 

 dewed bark is practically valueless. 

 Therefore do not bundle any but dry 

 bark, and if stored be careful it gets 

 plenty of air, but no damp. Above all 

 keep the bark clean ; good appearance 

 goes a long way towards a good price. 



Returns. 



It would be difficult to state here what 

 the probable cost per acre, or ot market- 

 ing per ton, might be. Some acres 

 would require little outlay until strip- 

 ping, others might be a long way from 

 a market. But if the probable returns 

 can be arrived at, then the question 

 simplifies itself to those who wish to 

 give it a trial. From calculations based 

 on some years' stripping, it has been 

 found that 30 trees supposed to be bet- 

 ween 6 and 8 years old produced a ton of 

 dry bark. The trees were naturally 

 grown, in bush country. Therefore an 



